Governor mechanism for automatic train control



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w. M. BECK GOVERNOR MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL Filed Feb. 23.. 19123l Oct.' 7 W24.

I I I Oct. 7

W. M. BECK GOVERNOR MEHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL Filed Feb. 25.

w wvn T1 HHH! IH IH l Patented @et 7, 1924.

Unirse 'stares temen i WILLIAM M. BECK, OF ELWOOD, INDIANA.

GOVERNOR MECHANISM FO'R AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL.

Application filed February 23, 1923. SerialY No. 620,745.

T all whom t may concern.' Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. BECK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elwood, in the county of Madison and State of Vindiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Governor Mechanism for Automatic Tra-in Control, of which .the following is a specitication.`

This invention relates to train devices Jfor preventing wrecks on railways caused by open switches, or collisions caused by one or more trains disregarding block or other signals, or failing to stop at the proper place.

A principal object here sought to be accomplished is to provide such an automatic stopping device as is above referred to, with means whereby a train may pass anautomatic stop in stopp-ing position without the Vbrakes of the train being applied or the power shut off, providedthe speedl of the train is less than a predetermined number of miles per hour'.

Another object is to record the number ot times that the. automatic stoppingdevice has been applied to stop a train, and also to provide means requiring the stopping device to be re-set by a person who must be ofi' of the train during any re-setting operation, thereby to insure proper inspection of the cause of the automatic stopping of the train. y The object also is to provide an automatic stopping device that will not interfere with the normal control of the motive power by the driver, and that cannot be operated manually from the engine or car, or in any other way than automatically as same was'.

primarily intended to be operated.

' I accomplish the above, and other objects .which will hereinafter appear, by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1, is a 'de'elevation of alocomotive engine 'shown largely lin dotted lines, to

which my invention is operatively vapplied and shown in full lines in position about to ,contact a track device and automatically set vthe brakes and shut off thevpower. Fig. 2, is a vertical longitudinal section', on a larger scale, oit' the cylinder and-piston mechanism for operating the throttle lever of aV locomotive and showing said throttle leverin f perspective. 'Fig 3, is a longitudinal horiaontal Section Qt the mechanism shown in lis assembled. ,usual manner notu shown with the'stearn sup-v 95 F ig. 2. Fig. 4, is a vertical section of the 55 right hand sideof a. locomotive engine, on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1, showing my invention on a larger scale than Fig. 1 and showing parts broken away7 to bring'the illustra-V tion within the compass of the sheet. Fig. 5, is a JfrontA view of the air-valve and trip mechanism shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6, is a modiiied form of my device as applied to an electrically propelled car. Fig. 7,-is a portion in vertical section on the line4 7*-.7 65

`communicates with the interior or' a cylin-i:l

der. 14. A valve 15 controls communica tion between the pipes 12'and 13, and in 80 open position allows `air runder pressureV to till the cylinder 14. In cylinder 14 is a reciprocating piston 16 which is forced to the frontend oi'l the cylinder by air pressure from pipe 13. Small holes V17 in the front S5 end of the cylinderV permit the air in the cylinderahead of the piston to escape gradui ally; and the brakesot the train with which` y the train-pipe 12Vr is connected are correspondingly set in a gradual manner which 9,0. is' desirable. A'piston rod 18 connected with the piston has a loop 19 on its outside portion through which a throttlelever 2O The lever 2O connects inthe ply tothe driving cylinders oi' the locomoi tive, andas the brakesare set in the'v manner above described the driving power `of the locomotive is cutoi'.

The'loop19 has a top cam-tace 21 near 100 y -its outer end, which raises anzelongated pin v.22 pivoting al rod23 ot pawl 24 to a hand- -lever 25,and thereby lifts the pawl out 'ot the notches of a segment 26 releasing the throttle-lever which is; then moved .by the continued Jforward travel of the p'is'tonf,

The cylinder 14 has a vent-cock V27v at its rear end. and a valve 28, operated. by a lever 29 and a rod 30, the latter extending within rea-ch of the driver in the cab, all `for convenience in re-setting the piston.

I will now describe the automatic opening of the valve 15, which, in the manner above stated, sets the brakes ot the train and cuts oit the power. rlhe immediate control of said valve is by a lever 3l which is moved normally in a direction to open the valve, by a spring 32, connecting' the end of the lever with the frame 33 of the locomotive. rthe lever is swung down against the tension of the spring 32 to closed position ot the valve and is there held by the engagement of a bracket 34- on the lever with a roller 35, carried by a trip-bar 36. The pin of the roller passes through a longitudinal slot 37 in the trip-bar' which retains the roller with free vertical adjustment. rlhis is limited in downward direction bv the pivoted bracket 34 and in upward direction by a horizontal foot-extension from the end of a bracket 38, which bracket 38 is bolted rigidly to the engine trame 33. The roller is thus held in a relatively fined position while the trip-bar 36 is tree to move longitudinally within the limits of said slot. The roller-contacting ends ot the bracket and the foot between which said roller is held, are concaved to better retain the roller and will retain it except under the stress ot an appreciable force against the trip-bar, which swings bracket 34 on pivot 8l to miss bracket 38.

The trip-bar is -hinged at l-O, to swing parallel with the railroad track ll-l, andv its lower end is adapted to contact a track device 42 located in the path et the trip-bar, which contact forces the roller out of' the grip of the brackets 34 and 3S and immediately releases the lever 3l so that the lever 3l moving under the stress otl spring 32 opens the valve 15. A friction-roller t3 is preferably mounted in the lower end oli' the trip-bar to contact the track device 4-2, tor

obvious reasons.

A counter of any suitable and well known construction is mounted at the hinge joint 40, and a pin from the counter to operate its mechanism is held between and engaged by a pair ci pins carried by the lower trip-bar member, whereby the number of movements of the trip-bar and consequent number of emergency train stops is registered on the counter.

It will be noted that no means is provided for re-setting the mechanism-for holding lever 31 in closed position of valve 15 from the engine-cab or train. rEhis mechanism can purposely only be re-s'et by a person standing on the ground, which is desirable because it insures that the trainmen get ott the train to ascertain the occasion ot' the non-scheduled stop. n

It 'is important, however, for low speed `on urban and interurban roads.

nsioeia in switching and the like, that the train be not stopped by said automatic stop mechanism, and I provide tor this contingency by a governor control that raises the trip-bar out oit possible contact with the track device below a predetermined speed of the train.

The governor tatis ot usual construction and operation and is here shown as located in the cab ot the locomotive, but that will depend upon circumstances and requirements. It is operatively connected with a lever l5 to which the upper end oitl the tripbar is pivoted. The speed oi the governor is controlled by 'connection with the axle i6 ot one pair ot the track-wheels of a locomotive, here shown as the rear drive wheels, but that is optional. A splined shaft a7 has a sliding drive through the correspondingly shaped hub of a bevel wheel 48, and it is connected by a universal joint i9 with a f bevel wheel drivingly engaging the bevel wheel on the axle. This allows for variations between the axle and engine traine 33, from which trame the wheel 48 is supported by means ot a suitable bracket. A shaft 5l is connected by a pair of bevel wheels with an upwardly extending shaft 52 that drives a cog-wheel 53 which in turn drives a cogwheel on the governor shaft. The shaft 52,

as here shown, has two universal joints but f' a greater or less number may be used dcpending upon the obstructions which it may be necessary to avoid in the various types ot locomotives to which my invention is applied.

n the modication shown in Fig. 7, the governor control is 'applied to an electrically driven railway car such as is in common use rEhe governor is here located low and in front et the motornian but it may be otherwise placed in any desirable and suitable place, and instead of drivingly connecting it with the axle ot the car by means of shafting provided with universal joints aud sliding shaft as in Fig. l, l have shown a tleXible drive shaiit 50 oin usual and well known construction for transmitting power from suitable bevel gear wheels 5l and 52 at the axle to similar bevel gear wheels 53 and 54 at the governor shaft. A trip-bar substantially like that shown in Fig. ll., and connected with the governor-shaft by mechanism similar to that shown in Fig. l, holds a like valve-lever 3l in closed position of an airvalve by a like roller and roller holding means. ln this modification direct air pressure is used for setting the car brakes. Compressed air Yfrom a suitable source ot supply (not shown) is supplied through a pipe 55 and is discharged through a pipe 56 to the brake mechanism (not shown). The discharge from pipe to pipe 56 is through a valve-controlled connection normally opened by manually operated hand-lever 57 at the motormans station. But I have shown them as connected under the car by an additional pipe connection 58 in which there is a valve 59 to which the lever 31 is attached (see Fig.' 8) and when the valve is opened by the lowering of the leverl 3l compressed air passes from the pipe to the pipe 56 through the connecting pipe 58 to set the brakes. rPhe automatic air system shown in Fig. l may be usedv instead of the direct air system shown in Fig. 7 if so desired or if that is the equipment of the particular car to which my invention is applied.

The lever 8l has an extension 69 on the opposite side of the valve 59, which extension rests upon a handle 60 of a double knife switch 6l of usual construction, in the motorcircuit. The raising of the lever 3l by spring 32 when the lever isV released by the swing of the trip-bar 'causesthe extension 69Vto open the switch thereby breaking the circuit to the motor and discontinuing the motive powerof the car. p I l The handle 60 swings down by gravity into locking engagement with a spring-catch 62where it remains until normally released for the re-setting of the safety device, which, asy before stated, is done manually.

The operation of my invention is so ob vious from the detailed description already given that further description of its operation is unnecessary.

` VVhileIhave here shown the best form of my invention now known to me, it is obvious l that many changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, some of which I have herein described, and I therefore do not desire to be limited toI the precise forms shown nor any more than is required by the appended claims; and having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an apparatus for the purposes specified, a track device, in combination with a train device, said train device comprising a trip member having a jointed portion moved at certain positions of the bar by contact with thetrack device, a rotating governor locatedv inview of the operator at his station, means including automatic universal adjustment to avoid interference by train movement for rotating the governor at variable speeds correspondingly varying with the speed of the train, and means ope-rated by the governor for raising the trip member out of possible contact with the track device at all speeds'of the train below a predetermined speed thereof.

2. In an apparatus for the purposes specified, the combination ofa track device withaltrain device, said train device comprising an axle, a trip member having a 'jointed portion moved at certain positions of thebar vby contact with the track device,

a centrifugally acting Arotary governor in view of and accessible to the operator, means having automatic universal adjustment for rotating the governor from the axle'and means connecting the governor and' trip member for raising the trip member out of possible contact with the track device below a predetermined speed of the governor.

3. In an apparatus for the purposes specified, the combination of a track device with a train device, said train device comprising an axle, a trip-bar having a hinged portion adapted to be swung at certain positions of the bar by contact' with .the track device,` a centrifugally rotary governor, means for rotating the governor from the axle, joints in said last means permitting universal translatory adjustment, a pivoted lever connected with the trip-bar and a governor shaft connected with and oscillating'the lever by the centrifugal action of Vthe governor whereby thev trip-bar is raised out of possible contact with the track device at a train speed below a predetermined speed. v f v 4. In an apparatus for the Apurposes specified, a track member, a trip member carried by the train and moved by contact withthe track member, -a counting device, means operated by the movement of the trip member for actuating the counting member and automatic means for moving the trip member out of possible contact with the track member below a predetermined speed of the train.

5. In an apparatus for the` purposes specified, a track member, a trip-bar carried by' the' train and having a hinged section whichvis swingingly moved by contact with the track member, a counter located adjacent to the hinge, and means on the swinging member of the trip-bar cooperating with the counter mechanism for registering and counting each swinging movement of the trip-bar and automaticmeans for raising he trip-bar to miss the track member and avoid movement of the counter below a predetermined speed of the train.

6. In an apparatus for the purposes specified, a train device comprising a pipe connected with the air-brake system of the train, a valve regulating the air discharge from said pipe, a lever connected with said valve to open and close it by the swinging of the lever, spring means for normally holding the lever in open position of the valve, a trip-bar automaticallyy adjustable longitudinally with the speed of the train and having a hinged and swingable lower portion, means forflockingV the valve-lever in a position of closure of the .,valve, and means by a' swinging movement of the hinged end of the trip-bar for releasing said "alve-lever. p l Y j 7. In a device for the purposesspecified,

llO

a track device, a pipe connected with a pneumatic brake system for cars, a valve opening and closing said pipe,A a lever controlling the valve, means for actuating the lever toward open position of the valve, means for locking the lever aga-inst the action of' said first means,I in closed position of the valve, and' a longitudinally movable .trip-bal.' having a lower pivoted member which is swingingly moved by contact ofl the member with the track-device to unlock the lever- 8. In a. device for the purposes specified, a track device, a pipe connected with a pneumatic brake system for cars, a valve opening andl closing said pipe, a lever controlling Vthe. valve, a locking member on the lever, means for actuating the lever toward open position of the valve, a trip-bar, and means comprising a .member carried by the trip-bar and interlocking with the locking member on the lever for holding the lever in closed posit-ion of the valve until released by a movement of the trip-bar caused by contact of said bar with the track device.

9. In a device for the purposes specified, a track device, a pipe connected with a pneumatic brake system for cars, a valve opening and closing said pipe, a lever controlling the valve, a= bracket on the lever, a bracket supported in a relatively fixed posilion adjacent the lirst bracket, a trip-bar, a member carried by the trip-bar and held betweeny the two brackets until released by contact of the trip--bar with the track device.

l0. In al device for the purposes specied, av track device, apipe connected with a pneumatic brake system for cars, a valve opening and closing said pipe, a lever controlling the valve, a bracket pivoted to the lever, as spring acting on the lever and closing the valve, a trip-device having a longitudinal slot, a shaft adjusta'bly mounted in the slot and extending above the bracket on the lever and holding the lever against the action of its spring, andl means to im- -pinge the shaft against the bracket on the lever and holding the lever untily the shaft is released by contact of the trip-bar with the track device.

ll. In an apparatus for the purposes specified, a track device, a pipe connected with a pneumatic brakev system for cars, a valve opening and closing said pipe, a spring closing the valve in one position of the lever, a pivoted trip-bar, means carried by the trip-bar for holding the lever in closed position to the valve, and means allowing for free adjustment of the first means longitudinally of the trip-bar without releasing the valve-lever until the tripbar is swung on its pivot by Contact with the track device.

l2. ln an apparatus for the purposes specified, a track device, in combination with a train device, said tra-in device comprising atrip-bar, a rotating governor, means for rotating the governor at variable speeds correspondingly varying with the speed of the train, a pipe connected with a pneumatic brake system for cars, a valve opening and closing said pipe, al lever controlling the valve, a bracket on the lever, a bracket supported in relatively fixed posi- 4tionV adjacent to the first bracket, a member carried: 'by the trip-bar `and held between the two brackets until released by contact of the trip-bar with vthe track device.

13. ln an apparatus for the purposes specified, a track device, a train device comprising a pipe connected with the air-brake system of the traima valve regulating the air discharge from said pipe, a lever connected withv said valve to open and close it .by the swinging of the lever, spring means for normally holding the lever in open position of'thefvalve", a trip-bar having a hinged and swinging lower portion, means for locking the valve-lever ina position ot closureof the valve, meansby a swinging movement of the hinged end of the tripbar for releasing said valve-lever, a rotating ball-governor located a-t the drivers station, means for rotating the governor at speeds varying with the speed of the train, and means operated by the governor for raising the trip-bar out of possible contact with the track member below a predetermined speed of the train.

14e. In an. apparatus for the purposes speci-fied, the combination of a track device with a train device,` said vtrain device comprising an axle, a ball-governor located at the drivers station, av Hexible shaft-drive from the axl'e to the governor,` a pivoted lever connected with the governor, a tripbar connected with the lever the lower portion of the trip-bar being hinged to the Aupper portion, a pipe connected with a Lpneumatic 'brake system for cars, a valve opening .andy closing the pipe, alever controlling the valve, a spring acting on the lever to close the valve, interlocking means between the last devices and the lower portion of the trip-bar automatically adjustable longitudinally of the trip-bar and having means for' releasing the valve-lever by a swinging movement of the lower member caused by contact with the track device.

l5. In an apparatus for the purposes specified, the combination of a track device with a train! device, said train device comprising an axle, a ball-governor loca-ted at the drivers station, a flexible shaft-drive from the axle to the governor, a pivoted lever connected with the governor, a tripbar connected with the lever the lower portion of said trip-bar being hinged to the upper portion thereof, and said .lower portion havin-g; a longitudinal-slot, aV pipe conlll) neoted with a pneumatic brake-syste1n 'for and for unlocking it by a movement of cars, a valve opening and closing the pipe, the trip-bar about its pivot, and means a downwardly bent lever controlling the from the frame of the engine for support- 10 valve, a spring moving the lever to close the ing said locking means.

5 valve, a lateral member adjust-ably held Signed at Indianapolis, Indiana, this the in the slot of the trip-bar, means for lockl7th day of February, 1928. ing the valve-lever to the lateral member WILLIAM M. BECK 

